{"id":17204,"date":"2024-05-14T20:35:51","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T12:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amazons-project-kuiper-satellite-network-sets-up-logistics-site-and-training-program\/"},"modified":"2024-05-14T20:35:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T12:35:51","slug":"amazons-project-kuiper-satellite-network-sets-up-logistics-site-and-training-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amazons-project-kuiper-satellite-network-sets-up-logistics-site-and-training-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper satellite network sets up logistics site and training program"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Students at Lake Washington Institute of Technology get hands-on lab training. (LWIT Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amazon says it\u2019s establishing a logistics facility in Everett, Wash., and partnering with a technical college in Kirkland, Wash., to boost the supply chain and workforce pipeline for its Project Kuiper satellite broadband network.<\/p>\n

Project Kuiper is Amazon\u2019s $10 billion effort to build and launch more than 3,000 satellites that will offer high-speed internet access to tens of millions of people around the world. The project already employs more than 2,000 people at Puget Sound locations, including a 172,000-square-foot satellite factory in Kirkland and a 219,000-square-foot research and development facility in Redmond, Wash.<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s partnership with Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland \u2014 which is less than a 10-minute drive from the satellite factory \u2014 takes the form of a satellite technician certificate program that will prepare students for careers in aerospace assembly and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

Brian Huseman, Amazon\u2019s vice president of public policy and community engagement, said in a news release that the partnership \u201cwill help create a pipeline of future satellite technicians to meet the evolving needs of this area\u2019s thriving space and satellite sectors, and give more people the opportunity to take part in Project Kuiper\u2019s important mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of those technicians may find themselves working at the newly announced 184,000-square-foot receiving and logistics facility in Everett, which is a half-hour drive north of Kirkland. Amazon said the hub is due to come fully online by next month, and will bring about 200 skilled technician jobs to the Everett area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new Everett facility will be the single point of delivery for all externally procured materials and goods for Project Kuiper, and the entry point into the internal Kuiper supply chain,\u201d an Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire via email. \u201cIt will enable the Kuiper team to support full-rate satellite production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said she was \u201cthrilled to welcome Amazon\u2019s new Project Kuiper facility to Everett.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis investment not only strengthens our region\u2019s reputation as a hub for aerospace innovation, but also creates valuable job opportunities for our residents,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n

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A member of the Project Kuiper team inspects machine tool parts. (Amazon Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Project Kuiper is far behind SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network when it comes to providing high-speed internet access from low Earth orbit. Over the past five years, more than 5,000 Starlink satellites have been built at SpaceX\u2019s facilities in Redmond and launched into space to serve an estimated 2.7 million subscribers in more than 70 countries.<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s plans call for setting up a 3,232-satellite Project Kuiper constellation. Under the terms of Project Kuiper\u2019s license from the Federal Communications Commission, at least half of those satellites have to be launched by mid-2026, with the remainder reaching orbit by 2029.<\/p>\n

Two prototype satellites were launched and tested last year, but Amazon hasn\u2019t yet announced the precise timing and detailed plans for launching the first production-grade satellites. Once the Kirkland production line ramps up to full capacity, Amazon expects to build up to five satellites per day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making good progress, and expect to launch our first production satellites in the coming months,\u201d a spokesperson said via email. \u201cWe expect to have enough satellites deployed by the end of 2024 to begin offering demonstrations to our earliest enterprise customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramping up Lake Washington\u2019s technician training program will also take a while. The program offers two 16-credit certification tracks \u2014 for Aerospace Assembly Specialist and Aerospace Manufacturing \u2014 that can be completed in two semesters total. Classes start in July.<\/p>\n

The coursework will focus on safety protocols, aerospace assembly skills, materials handling, electrical systems, emerging technologies and industry-standard practices.<\/p>\n

Amazon said members of the Project Kuiper team helped develop the program and coursework. Project Kuiper also donated 150 tools for use in the classroom and will provide regular guest lecturers for classes. The program will be run at least twice a year, with each program\u2019s cohort capped at 25 students, Amazon said.<\/p>\n

Amazon said it will include the two satellite certification tracks in its Career Choice program, which offers prepaid education and skills training programs for hourly warehouse employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustry partnerships like this collaboration with Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper are what makes our students so successful,\u201d said Amy Morrison, president of Lake Washington Institute of Technology. \u201cTogether, we are providing real-world training for satellite technicians to work in the rapidly growing space industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other satellite broadband news:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Amazon is asking the FCC to authorize an extension of Project Kuiper service to mobile vehicles, including cars, ships and airplanes. SpaceX won similar FCC clearance for mobile Starlink services in 2022.<\/li>\n
  • PCMag.com reports that SpaceX will raise the monthly service price for some residential Starlink users from $90 to $120 after reclassifying their service areas as having \u201climited capacity\u201d instead of \u201cexcess capacity.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Students at Lake Washington Institute of Technology get hands-on lab training. (LWIT Photo) Amazon says it\u2019s establishing a logistics facility in Everett, Wash., and partnering with a technical college in Kirkland, Wash., to boost the supply chain and workforce pipeline for its Project Kuiper satellite broadband network. Project Kuiper is Amazon\u2019s $10 billion effort to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[275,1873,4497,4498,4342,4499,962,20,4336,21],"class_list":["post-17204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-education","tag-everett","tag-job-training","tag-kirkland","tag-lake-washington-institute-of-technology","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}